


Six Months Later

by Elevane_Theirin



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 10:23:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8746813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elevane_Theirin/pseuds/Elevane_Theirin
Summary: I was getting achievements and I had to let Loghain live. I didn't like how it ends and I didn't want Alistair to become a drunk...so I wrote this





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was getting achievements and I had to let Loghain live. I didn't like how it ends and I didn't want Alistair to become a drunk...so I wrote this

The figure stood in the shadows of the tree line, watching the quiet village for the third week in a row. She knew he was coming, Leliana had told her he was on his way, and Leliana was always right when it came to the comings and goings of their friends. Even the ones who didn't want to be found.

Highever had been unseasonably cold the past three weeks, or was that just her heart making her feel that way? They had to talk, she wasn't sure how she was going to get Alistair to listen but she had to try. They'd both been miserable since that horrible day. Leliana was good at finding those things out as well. So, she stood sentinel over the village, watching and waiting, barely getting a glance from the villagers. She knew he was coming to Highever to do what he’d said for Duncan, a memorial. 

Alistair sat in the wagon staring at his feet thinking about how much he needed a drink. The long ride in this bumpy wagon with nothing but his thoughts since the farmer wasn't much for chatting. He seemed to drink a lot these days. Ever since the Landsmeet. The woman he thought loved him had betrayed him. Letting that slimy Loghain live. LIVE as a Grey Warden no less. Where was the honor in that? Where was Duncan and Cailen's justice? His jaw ached before he realized he was doing it again. Clenching his teeth and fists. He wanted to hit something, KILL something. Anything to make the thoughts go away. A drink was exactly what he needed, it'd been 2 days since he had one and the memories were creeping back in. Then he sighed and choked back tears, "how could she have done that then beg me to stay?" he thought.

He'd sworn on Duncan's life he wouldn't drink until his task was done but the promise was proving harder than he thought to keep. Andraste's ashes! When the wagon stopped he jolted back to the present, looked around and realized they were finally in Highever. He tipped the farmer 2 sovereigns and jumped out. 

"Oh yeah...right outside the tavern. That's perfect", he thought as he gathered his things and headed inside. It was only about noon but he just had to get her out of his mind and drinking was the only way he knew how, it was the only thing that worked, at least until he was so drunk he had no idea what he was saying. He'd already been told he talks about her non-stop when about 15 ales in, but who cares at that point?

She was in shadow again, this time inside the tavern. She saw him hop out of the wagon and had recognized him the moment the wagon pulled into town. She had slipped into the tavern before he'd shaken himself from his daydream, or was it a waking nightmare? Her heart sank a little more. She desperately needed to explain to him what really happened. He had gotten so upset and stormed out she couldn't tell him that she had known. She hadn't betrayed him, she just hadn't told him.  
She pulled the cloak's hood back up over her head, hiding her face, then slipped onto the stool next to him quietly. It was as though Alistair didn't even see her.

He was gone again in his thoughts, like he was on the wagon. She looked at him from the corner of her eye. Still so handsome, then again it had only been six months, but it had seemed like a lifetime. His dirty blonde hair needed a trim and he was in desperate need of a shave but all she could think of was how very much she still loved him. He HAD to listen. Dear Maker PLEASE let him listen to what she had to say.

Quietly and quickly Leana whispered, "He's dead Alistair. He paid for what he did at Ostagar."

Alistair jerked in his seat and stiffened. He turned to look at the woman sitting beside him she didn't return his look but he knew that shape, had held it in his arms for nearly a year. 

Leana sat looking straight ahead trying to keep calm and not run out of the tavern without saying what she'd come to say.

"Give me just a moment Alistair and then I will leave you alone. I promise I won't beg you to stay or to forgive me. I understand why you can't, but please, hear me out."

"Say what you have to say and leave me to my drinking then" That was what he'd said but his heart was screaming "don't you DARE let her leave"

Leana sighed softly, then took a deep breath. "When we went to the vault in Denerim I found a journal, from a Commander of the Grey. The night before the Landsmeet, at Redcliffe Castle, I sat in bed and read through it. Not all of it but things that caught my attention. One of the entries was about how an Archdemon dies."

"So what?" Alistair barked, it sounded harsher than he had meant it to, but if she didn't leave he was going to give in and take her in his arms. Her voice sounded like she was crying but she still wasn't looking at him so he couldn't be sure, and that broke his heart all over again. Knowing she was in pain trying to tell him something that he didn't want to hear.

"When Riordan suggested making Loghain a Warden, I already knew that killing the Archdemon would kill the Warden and all I could think about was how that would save you. I didn't give a sodding damn about saving his life. I didn't do it for him, I didn't do it for the Grey Wardens. I did it for you Alistair, and even if you hate me the rest of your life I would do it again if I was given the choice. That bastard died on top of Fort Drakon. Duncan and Cailen were avenged, someone else died and I'M supposed to be the Hero. I'm no hero, I was a coward who couldn't let the man she loved die. I even sacrificed us to do it."

She stood up then and turned toward him. "I had to find you, to tell you. You needed to know that justice was done. Goodbye Alistair. I love you... Always."  
Leana sobbed as she started towards the door.

He sat stunned, he nearly fell off his stool. "Stupid stupid stupid! I knew I should have run back to her, I knew I should have told her I was sorry, I hadn't meant all those things I had said to her" he thought. Alistair stood up and turned towards the door just as it softly closed behind her. He bolted for the door.

Oh Maker Please let her still be there! 

The sun blinded him for a moment but then he saw her, just down the road. She'd pulled back her hood and he could see her beautiful red hair and just a peek of her elven ears poking out from the strands. His breath caught in his throat as he remembered stroking that lovely hair while she slept. How he'd missed her. His heart ached, it nearly burst out of his chest towards her. As he caught up to Leana he spun her around and enfolded her in his arms.

"I was wrong, I was so very wrong. I knew I was wrong that day but refused to go back."  
As he said the words she collapsed against him and cried. Her big blue eyes filled with tears. Now he was completely broken. He sat right there in the road holding her in his arms. Rocking her, stroking her back "I love you, I was wrong" over and over until neither of them could cry anymore. Then they just sat there desperately holding on to the most important thing in the world. Each other.


End file.
